a (1). Parish Church, dedication unknown, stands in the middle of the village. The walls are of flint rubble, with dressings of limestone and clunch; the roofs are covered with tiles. The thick S. wall of the Nave, with the S.W. angle, is probably of the 12th century, but no detail of that date remains. At the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century, the West Tower was added, and at the same time the Chancel, and possibly the N. wall of the nave, were rebuilt. Later in the 16th century the South Porch was added. The church was restored in the 17th century, and again in the 19th century.

The 16th-century monuments, with their effigies, are noteworthy.

" The parish of Borley extends northward from Brundon, and is bounded on the east by the river Stour. The name is compounded of the Saxon words Bap, and ley, that is, Boar's Pasture. Its circumference is about five miles, its distance from Sudbury two, and from London fifty-seven miles. "

" In the reign of Edward the Confessor, a freeman named Lewin held the lands of this parish, which , at the time of the survey, belonged to Adeliza, countess Albemarle, half-sister to the Conqueror, * and married to Odo, earl of Campagne, to whom the Conqueror gave the earldom of Holderness , in Yorkshire.f Their daughter, Judith , was married to Waltheof , the British earl of Northumberland and Huntingdon ; and their son and heir , Stephen , earl of Albemarle, attended Robert Curthose , duke of Normandy, on his expedition into the Holy Land , and distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of bravery in a great battle near Antioch , where he commanded in the rear of the Christian army. He married Hawise, daughter of Ralph de Mortimer, by whom he had ' William and Ingleram, and four daughters. William , the eldest son, surnamed Le Gros, defeated the rebel army at the battle of the Standard, in 1138, and, for his important services to the state, was ennobled by the title of earl of Yorkshire. "

" He married Cecily, daughter of William, son of Duncan, brother of Malcolm the Third , king of Scotland , * by Alice , daughter of Robert de Romney , lord of the honour of Skipton , in Craven.f "

" The offspring of this marriage was two daughters, co-heiresses, Hawise and Cicily, or Amicia, which last was married to Eston , or Easton , of a family whose surname was derived from the manor of Easton, in Walter Belchamp. "

" Hawise, the eldest daughter, had three husbands: William de Mandeville, earl of Essex, who died in 1189, without issue; William de Fortibus, who died in 1194, to whom she bore a son, named William; and Baldwin de Betun, earl of the Isle of Wight, who died in 1212, and whom she survived. "

" Her son , William de Fortibus , succeeded to the family honours and estates, and distinguished himself by his activity and prowess in the wars of the barons. He married Aveline, daughter and co - heiress of Richard , lord of Stansted Montfichet , by whom he had William de Fortibus , third earl of Albemarle , of that name . He succeeded his father on his death in 1241 , and married Christiana , daughter and co - heiress of Allan , of Galloway . "

" His second wife was Isabel, daughter of Baldwin, earl of Devonshire; by her he had John, Thomas, and William, who all died under age , and two daughters , Avice and Aveline . He died in 1260,9 and was survived by his widow, Isabel, who, on the decease of her brother, Baldwin de Rivers, fifth earl of Devon, assumed the style of countess of Albemarle and Devon, and lady of the Isle of Wight . "

" She died in 1293 , leaving her only daughter her heiress . This lady being considered too great a match for a subject , was , by the policy of King Henry the Third , married to his second son , Edmund Crouchback , earl of Lancaster , the king , queen , and nearly all the nobility of England attending the mar riage , in 1269. || And , in the succeeding reign , she was persuaded to give up the sovereignty of her castles and lands to Edward the First , receiving property of equal value , and twenty thousand marks from that monarch . She died without issue in 1293 , and this lordship coming to the crown , was , in 1364 , given , by King Edward the Third, to the prior and convent of Christ's Church , in Canterbury , in exchange for the town and port of Sandwich , in Kent, with appurtenances and revenues in the Isle of Sheppey , which belonged to that monastery ; * granting them also free warren in Borley , and all other demesnes ; in which proprietorship it remained till their dissolution , in 1539 ; t and in 1541 it was , with other estates , granted to the dean and chapter of Christ's church, in Canterbury ; but they having been charged with an annuity of £ 200 for the maintenance of scholars in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge , this estate and several others were , in 1545 , assigned to the crown for the discharge of the incumbrance ; and , soon afterwards , the manor of Borley was granted to Edward Waldegrave , of the noble family of that name , of Smallbridge, in Suffolk , and of Navestock , in Ongar . "

" Sir Edward was master of the wardrobe to King Philip and Queen Mary ; also chancellor of the dutchy of Lancaster , and representative for Essex , in the parliament that met on the 20th of January , 1557. He married Frances , daughter of Sir Edward Neville , and had by her two sons , Nicholas and Charles , and three daughters ; Mary , married to John , lord Petre , of Writtle ; Catharine , to John Gowen , Esq . of Devonshire ; and Magdalen , to John Southcote , Esq . son and heir of John Southcote , of Witham . "

" Sir Edward died in the Tower of London , in 1561,9 and is buried in Borley church : his lady is also interred in the same grave , having enjoyed this estate till her decease in 1599 , in the eightieth year of her age . "

" Charles Waldegrave , Esq . the eldest son , was of Staining Hall , in Norfolk , and of Chewton , in Somersetshire ; and the second son , Nicholas , had this manor of Borley Hall . His wife Catharine , daughter of Winstan Browne , Esq . of Roding Abbess , brought him the manor of Langenhoe ; and he had also , besides this estate , some lands in Bulmer . On his death , in 1621 , he was succeeded by his only son , Philip , who made Borley Hall the place of his residence. "

" By his wife Mary, daughter of Richard White , Esq . of Hutton , in this county , he had his only son , John Waldegrave , Esq . whose successor in this estate was his son Philip , by his wife Katharine : and he , on his decease in 1720 , gave it with other possessions to his brother James , lord Walde grave , created viscount Chewton and earl Waldegrave in 1729 , whose noble family have retained this , with the manor of Navestock and other possessions in this county , to the present time . "

" A messuage and lands , named Rockleys , Ligons , and Fredes , and described as lying in Borley and Foxearth , were purchased by Sir Edward Waldegrave , of Thomas Cecill , in 1552 . "

" Borley Hall is about half a mile eastward from the church , near the banks of the Stour ; and the old house , called Borley Place , is near the church , and not far distant from the village green . "

" The church is a plain ancient building on an eminence , from which the surrounding The church . country presents prospects highly beautiful and interesting . The advowson of the rectory has belonged to the Waldegrave family from Henry the Eighth's reign to the present time . The living has a glebe of ten acres . In this church there is a splendid monument to the memory of several individuals Monuments and of the Waldegrave family . "

" It is about fourteen feet in height , nine in length , and in inscriptions . breadth five , with a cornice of elegant workmanship , supported by six marble pillars of the Corinthian order ; beneath are finely executed whole - length statues in marble , of Sir Edward Waldegrave and his lady Frances ; they lie beside each other , with uplifted hands , and the general expression of devotion and resignedness in their fea tures . Sir Edward's head rests on his helmet , and there is an elegant marble urn at his feet : the lady Frances reclines her head upon a pillow , and at her feet there is the figure of a squirrel . The effigies of their five children are at the head and on the south side of the tomb ; these are referred to in the following inscription :

1. Charles Waldegrave married Jeronimy, daughter of Sir Henry Jurnigan, knight .

2. Nicholas Waldegrave married Catharine , daughter of Wiston Brown, Esq .

3. Marie Waldegrave married Sir John Petre, knt.

4. Katharine Waldegrave married Thomas Gowen, Esq.

5. Magdalin Waldegrave married John Southcote, Esq. "

" The family arms are elegantly represented in relief on the canopy , and on the edge , which is of black marble , there is the following inscription : "

" On the north wall of the chancel , a female figure is placed in a devotional attitude , between two pillars , which support a canopy ; she kneels on a cushion , with a book open before her , and above there appear cherubim , encircled with rays of glory : below there is the following inscription "

" In the chancel , on the ground , a brass plate in a black marble bears the following inscription : "

" This parish , in 1821 , contained one hundred and ninety - five inhabitants , and, accord ing to the census of 1831 , the number was precisely the same. "